Josh Wigler is an entertainment journalist who covers Survivor, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and other popular TV shows for The Hollywood Reporter. He's the co-author of The Evolution of Strategy, creator of First One Out, host of Post Show Recaps and The Wiggle Room, and occasional Wanda Shirk impersonator.
He once interviewed Kermit the Frog about The Avengers and The Hunger Games, and hung out with Daryl Dixon and Ted the teddy bear during New Year's... so, you know, he's kind of a big deal. Follow Josh on Twitter @roundhoward.

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So the saviours are all blocking the roads to hilltop. Is this a plan or just a coincidence. Do they not know the people in the van are Alexandrians?

Katrice Renee

Caryl has lost her mind the same way Morgan lost his before the cheese maker.

Katrice Renee

Flight 462, that was a ice conclusion. I definitely did not remember that part in FearTWD. Just to see how it ends, I’m gonna watch the premiere.

Matt Racine

knew they would pull that cliffhanger BS. takes away the impact of the moment.

Katrice Renee

The camera angle on the last scene was a very good shot. First person…I like. Like a video game.

Paul

Like who the f*** in their right mind thought this was a good way to end the episode. There’s no way Kirkman would have proposed this. It had to have come from the higher up AMC execs. I refuse to believe any of the shows writers thought this was a good idea.

Anyone who had any involvement in deciding to end the episode that way deserves to be fired.

susan appleby

The writers aren’t that brilliant. My thought was there was controversy with the network over who was to be killed. Maybe they are still fighting that battle.

sunny

So that was not worth staying up late for, why did this have to be 90 minutes? I feel like listening to the bookclub podcast to find out who got the club and be done with this show. It’s awful just as often as it’s awesome.

Matthew Murphy

This is just like Snyder messing up Batman and Superman. How do you mess up Negan? Well pee pee pants is a start. Worst season finale ever.

Craig

Before they got to the Negan scene I thought about going to the bathroom, but I just decided to hold it. What a mistake. Especially with all the pee pee pants stuff. Damn censors. They likely had a much better script for that and AMC and the FCC must have told them to tone it down.

It was such a weird feeling watching that scene. It was scary, and yet very entertaining. JDM really sells it as Negan. Great casting. I think this is the first time since the pilot that we have seen Rick truly panic stricken and scared to death. That was some great acting by Andrew Lincoln.

Ever since season season 3 the show has always screwed up with their season finales so I don’t know why people are surprised that they screwed this up. They are probably not going to even show whoever got killed by Negan. They are probably just going to show the group driving back to Alexandria in the dark so you can’t see any of their faces, make the premiere a Carol, Morgan, and Father Gabriel storyline, and then just end the episode with a grave and a cross with the name on it, or just put the name on the wall. The whole point of that scene was we were all suppose to be scared of who was going to get it, and be chilled to the core at this new bad and what he just did to one of these long running characters. This was just not gratifying, and I give the show no excuses for this, because after the backlash of what happened with the whole fake Glenn death, they should have learned their lesson by now.

jan

To be fair they already shot that scene when backlash with dumpster happened.

Matthew Murphy

Doesn’t mean they can’t reshoot it. Cliffhangers aren’t always a bad thing but when they’re poorly executed (no pun intended) in a very lame season finale there’s a problem.

jan

Yeah, in my opinion it was the second worst finale so far. (first is Sam calling “mom”)

Matthew Murphy

That was bad but it was a mid season finale. Still atrocious though.

susan appleby

They may not have been able to reshoot but they could have edited it differently.

Natrone Beans

LT says to Walking Dead producers on cliffhanger…

Adam Bradford

I hope Kirkman/Gimple learned their lesson from GOT and have hired whoever was killed for the next season to show up everyday just it’s not leaked ahead of time. If not, we’ll find out this Summer who is not on set and it will get out who was killed. There is some hope if we can believe Chandler Riggs tweet that it wasn’t in the script for that episode.

Paul

I also don’t get a show can be so gory, with insane violence and people/zombies having skin peeled off their face, yet we can’t say the word f***? It’s 2016, are people really that sensitive to curse words still? Who cares???

Derek_Sye

I am officially done with the Walking Dead. This whole season was a mess and this finale just sealed the deal for me. I’ll keep watching the recaps because that is the only part I have enjoyed for a while now.

sunny

yep, strong showing in the second half after the boring first half but it was all undone with this awful finale. (that’s how i’m still feeling the morning after anyway lol)

Morty

People upset about the cliffhanger need to settle down. I was expecting the reveal and disappointed by its omission too, but I still laughed…no cackled…aloud and heartily when it cut to credits. Great ploy, TWD…now THAT’S a cliffhanger!

Also, I really dig Negan. I wonder if he’ll be my bestie! Of course, he still has to die, but he’s got some potent psychotic charm about him.

Who did he waste? He said to feed Carl’s eye to Rick if anyone moved, so it’s not them. He gave Glenn a “freebie” for charging him, and I don’t think he would seemingly contradict himself on that so soon after that reprieve, so I’m sure Glenn is safe. I don’t think it’s a woman.

Given Abraham’s hopeful talk of having a kid and also hugging it out with Eugene, my money is on Abraham…who would also take the beating “like a champ” as Negan marveled. If I’m right, I think it should have been an even more major character to shake things up, though…and maybe even a secondary one to boot.

NYszq

I think there would be a blood curdling scream from Maggie, if it was Glenn. Don’t think it was a woman. Negan likes women. Abraham had a lot of soul searching, reflection and air time this season… my bet it was him.

susan appleby

It’s crazy that the show treats fans this way. This show has terrible writing, absurdly poor pacing,and nonsensical behavior by,and deaths of, characters. It’s only the high quality acting and production that saves this show and keeps it popular.

Morty

I’ll grant you some of the nonsensical behavior…especially last week…but all this fan wailing is to my mind just the latest manifestation of our culture’s ever-growing obsession with instant gratification. If our wants aren’t satisfied this second, the payoff is utterly worthless!

Charles Bikle

Instant gratification ? How much filler and dragged out, dead-end story arcs are we supposed to sit through
before getting to and resolving the climax of the story in the last episode of the season ?

As the Governor would say: “It’s time for Gimple to PAY THE BILL !”

Morty

Fair point about the filler, but I’m still not fazed about the cliffhanger. I was amused by the show’s cheek to do it that way, which probably explains why I laughed when the credits popped up. It’s cheesy, but so what?

Adam Bradford

Gimple also said the term “zaprudering” during the Talking Dead. Zaprudering is a film term that comes from the person who filmed the JFK assassination; his first name…Abraham.

Charles Bikle

Scott Gimple’s writing comes off as very passive-aggressive towards the audience – almost as though he hates the people he’s writing for.

Edwin Johnson

“The end of the story is what people saw, and when we reveal who was on the receiving end there, that’s going to be the start of another story. The kickback effects from that, what it makes everyone into, how people react, how the world changes for everyone, that’s the next part of the story.” – Scott Gimple

Is this explanation at all worthwhile? Wouldn’t they be able to tell the same exact story next season, but without completely taking away the impact from the most anticipated scene in the series’ history?

Charles Bikle

it’s a nonsensical & meaningless answer, but It’s not like Chris Hardwick is going to call Gimple out on that.

All the guests seemed to have their pre-arranged answers & bullet points.

susan appleby

How a story ends when a bat is swung at a person to beat them to death is the most far fetched explanation.
He would have been better served to just say, we weren’t ready to reveal that answer yet.

Rubicon

Why on earth would anyone have thought that primary purpose of the scene was to introduce the most brutal villain the show has ever had, by having him bash in the brains of one of the main characters with a barbed wire bat?

I, mean, people! It’s wasn’t even about introducing Negan.The primary purpose of the scene was the conclusion of Rick’s character arc for the season, resolving his inner journey. It was all about Rick.

Listen. Gimple is a craftsman. He doesn’t trade in cheap storytelling tricks, like cliffhangers. The man is devoted to character. I think fans just doesn’t understand the level of craft that Gimple is operating on.

S_Carl_Dixon

I pissed myself laughing when I heard him say that~
Give me one example of when a writer decided to write an END to their story by beating somebody up and not reveal who the hell got beat up?
Not even George R.R. Martin did that – at least we got to see the person that “died” at the end of his story!! To compare this cliffhanger to GoT’s is just laughable & ridiculous in my humble opinion~~ =D

This is more like the writer randomly died in the midst of writing their story…..LOL….Gimple seriously needs to take some writing classes!! XD

Morty

I think Morgan killed the hanging walker, because it was suggested that the clanging noise he was making was drawing other walkers as evidenced by more approaching the nearby fence.

I think you are right on…Epi- 1 &2 then 3 Dwight flashback and some additional background on Negan leading up to Epi 4 reveal…

Charles Bikle

WHOA ! This show is called The WALKING Dead, not “The Sprinting Dead” – there’s no need to cram that much story into the first four episodes.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind a Nicholas-centric flashback episode, so we could get to know that character more.

jan

I think we should also get 90 minute episode on how Enid get out of the closet.

S_Carl_Dixon

Don’t forget about “The Savior” Back-story episode & the Negan Origin Episode (similar to what they did with the Governor) where we are not only gonna get an extended episode where we get to know Negan a LOT better….but it’s also gonna be……wait for it…….TWO Ninety-Minute Long Extended episodes of Negan’s Origin Story, since he is such a Fan Favorite, am I right?!!! xDDDD It is going to blow our minds with what they have in store for us next season….just you wait~~ >_____<

Reynaldo Hernandez Aponte

The show went off the rails after Jesus shows up, after that everyone starts acting noticeably less intelligent.

Paul

This, the Hilltip introductory episode was good. The night attack on the Saviors was pretty good. After that, a whole bunch of garbage.

Infinity8

All the characters in that lineup are basically Schrodinger’s cat right now. Both alive and dead. Kind of gives us a chance to accept whoever ends up being killed. Personally I hope it’s a Rosita or Eugene.

I think that you guys miss the subtle points pretty frequently. For example, the fact that the Saviors have obviously been watching the group, and know who Rick is, and that he is the leader, and that they were coming. They told the man the painted the X on that they were doing it to make him an example for somebody. When he said that all his friends were already dead, he said that it was for someone else (they knew the RV was coming). Hubris has always been a problem for protagonists in great works of fiction, so Rick’s over confidence and underestimation of the severity of the Negan problem is a big part of the plot. The fact that he doesn’t realize that they are a step ahead of him all the way, that they know who they are, etc is lost on him because he thinks that they can have whatever they want. He stated over and over again that it was “their world to take” and the fact that he doesn’t realize until he is on his knees before Negan that this is not the case makes for a classic tragedy.

Katrice Renee

Trailors are going to be about Morgan and Caryl and at the Kingdom. (Spoiler)

Also, the walking dead always begins their season premiere with the ending of the season finale. We will definitely get to see who dies on the first episode of the new season. We can not compare to Glen because he was a mid season event.

Abrahams not dead due to Negan knowing he was willing to go. No major impact to the moral of the team. Eugenes not dead, they would have killed him earlier and it would have no impact to the audience as we don’t care as much for Eugene. It’s not Carl due to the comment Negan made. It’s not Rick because the series will end when Rick dies. It’s not Glen due to the big secret ending of the episode. If it is Glen in October then there would be no reason to let it fester since half the walking dead watchers know what happens in the comic books and showing it now would make people just as sad as showing it in October. Also Maggie would have definitely screamed or It’s not Aaron because it would have no impact on the audience. This is too big of an event to give it to a B list character. I’m not sure if Sasha is a big enough character, but it may be her. It could be Rosita, Michonne, Maggie or Daryl. My bet is on Daryl or Michonne. Michonne because she’s ricks girl and all his girls die and Daryl because he’s not in the comics so it’s easier to kill off this major character in order to save the comic book characters for more iconic comic book moments, two, Dwight already dislikes Daryl and the show made it a point to show Dwight walking out of the crowd to see what happens, three, Daryl is in the way for the Jesus character to do his thing, four, this would be a huge impact on The audience and people are threatening to riot if Daryl dies. Huge ratings and free publicity.

Also on talking dead, it was said that there is a clue in the line up of Negan’s eeny meeny miney moe as to who dies.

Craig

After reading some things in the news out there, the person who I think is most to blame for this, in fact all to blame on this falls to one person. Scott M. Gimple. Ever since Gimple took over I have been annoyed with how he has ran the show. Here’s why.

1. He has too many episodes which are just table setters. He spends all this time setting a table that you think your going to be getting a great meal, only to find out that it’s just soup. Not even soup with crumbled crackers in it, just soup.

2. He just seems to not care about the fans or the subject matter that his covering. I have not read the comics, but as someone who has been watching this show since day 1, I know what I like and what I want to see. What I don’t like is long setups that lead to even longer setups, and him doing things like the Glenn dumpster things, and ending a season with everyone locked in a train car. Gimple has said that he wishes the fans had more trust in the show that the show knows what it’s doing, I wish that Gimple would just realize that the fans of this show aren’t idiots, and that we are not just going to take the spoonfuls of cliffhangers and bogus stories because we love the show no matter what it does.

3. In all the times I have read and listened to Gimple, he seems so low energy and so hyperbolic (in written form) that he sounds like he doesn’t even care about the show, he just cares about writing a story and will not let anything like the fans or the comics derails that ability.

I think that AMC needs to consider cutting him from the show and getting somebody else who actually cares about this show and its fans. I have not been a Gimple fan, and this cliffhanger debacle is the last straw in my opinion.

Harriet Tubgirl

Gimple does really great one-off episodes, but his long form arcs are terrible. He’s too interested in subverting comics expectations. Sometimes Kirkman got it right and killed the right character, dude.

Harriet Tubgirl

According to Nicotero in an EW interview, no one knows who Negan killed. It was written into the script that way. Is it possible that the show wants to gauge audience reaction before deciding on whom to kill?

Do you think the POV shot we got throughout the episode of the person in the back of the van matches with the POV shot at the end? This would mean that the person killed would likely be either Rosita or Glenn, as the POV seemed to be from the very back of the van behind where Michonne and Daryl are.

S_Carl_Dixon

Boy……don’t know how I would have gotten over that cliffhanger without you guys! You guys always manage to make me feel so much better after watching a disappointing episode of TWD (which is basically 90% of the entire series…so I don’t even know why I never learn and keep on expecting more when the show constantly lets us down….LOL) but this finale was just ridiculous!! All the great build-up, and horrific tension with Negan got wiped away in one false swoop. How the hell they manage to make a Horrifying Villain like Negan fail to live up to his name and reputation is beyond me…..Not even Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s greatness can save it…….such a shame!! Whoever made this decision should be sentenced to the “walk of shame”!!! shame…….shame…….shame…….shame……

S_Carl_Dixon

Assuming that Glenn is the one, do you guys think that the decision to not show us it was Glenn that got Lucilled was to avoid the backlash they got with episode 3 “Thank You” leaving us wondering whether Glenn died or not? Is the premiere going to be dedicated to Glenn, and in order to make it impactful and extremely emotional, it couldn’t be another Glenn just died cliffhanger. They needed to show us the immediate aftermath of his death and needed more time to write and produce that episode? If that is the case with the premiere of next season….would we be able to forgive this debacle of a cliffhanger?? Would the Glenn season 7 premiere death episode negate this negative negan season 6 finale and hopefully bring the series back on track again?

S_Carl_Dixon

The one comment I love the most after all the ones that I’ve read so far out in the inter-webs is, “Negan just killed the cameraman!!!” xDDDD

Literally no one is safe you guys……not even the cameramen~~~ LOL

Craig

I will say, I think the reason why the group has been making such stupid decisions lightly stems back to the mid-season opener when they all banded together to kill all the walkers in Alexandria. That combined with the Manifest Destiny thing Rob talked about and the “Hot Hand Falacy” made the group feel like they could do anything and it will always work out for them.

Also, If the group has a Manifest Destiny idea, does that mean that the saviors are like Canada, or I guess in a historical case Upper and Lower Canada?